The Silent Moment
by nevercomemonday
Summary: Suddenly to Sasuke everything in the world seemed easy compared to this. Beating Naruto? Fine. Killing Itachi? Great. But telling Sakura exactly what he wanted to talk to her about? Now that was a different story.


The Silent Moment

By nevercomemonday

* * *

Blood dripped from the Uchiha's hands as he slowly stepped away from the dying figure. There Itachi lay with a large gaping hole in his abdomen. Naturally blood was everywhere and with every gasp it became harder and harder for him to breathe. Sasuke was silent as he watched his brother slowly drift into the arms of death and a slight smirk came upon his stoic face. 

"Finally." he said, "Its finally over. I have at last fulfilled my life's purpose." the smirk became more and more evident.

Itachi coughed up some blood as he attempted to speak. "Foolish little brother." he said between wheezing gasps. "It is true that you have finally managed to take my life. But now what do you have?" Those were his final words. The elder Uchiha coughed up more blood and took one final breath and a smirk of his own appeared on his face.

It was silent for a few moments. After that. Sasuke wasn't exactly sure what his elder brother meant when he said those things. He had fulfilled his goal. He avenged his clan. That was all he had ever really wanted in the first place and now he...he was alone...He was alone in the world. He was literally the last of his clan. There was no one but a dead man by his side now. What was he to do now that it really was over?

He dropped to his knee's. Not only from the wounds he suffered, but also from the loss of purpose. True it had been a long fight and a tough one at that. Fighting his brother was the hardest battle he had yet faced. He had left everything that was dear to him all to seek power for this one moment that had now passed. There was nothing for him now. He cursed and punched the ground with his fist. Now Itachi tortured him even in death.

He didn't even have a team anymore. he had abandoned Hebi when he learned of Itachi's appearance near by. He had only recruited them for his own protection. They were merely escorts , body-guards , nuisances.He would never admit it to anyone but he was scared of going alone. Though their skills had been quite useful in his quest , he had no use for them now. They could find their own goal to go about doing without him.

But there was still that lingering question. What did he have now? What could he do? Go back to Konoha? 'No' he thought to himself, 'Not without good reason.' He thought about his old teammates and his old sensei. He thought about all the squabbles he had with Naruto over the stupidest things. "Dobe." he would often call his rival and in return would receive "Teme" as a response. He remembered the way Sakura always smiled when he was around and how she yelled at Naruto whenever he asked for a date. Sasuke even went so far as to recall the very first day that the trio had become team 7.

That day ,after meeting Kakashi-sensei, they had all went on the roof of the academy to ,as Kakashi put it, "to get to know each other." He remembered that the only thing his sensei had ever shared with them was his name. And of course Naruto had ranted on and on about how he would someday become the greatest Hokge and "Dattebayo!" would often pop out of the dobe's mouth whenever he would speak of his dream.Then naturally all Sakura could say was about her crush on him.

And then leaving Sasuke for last Kakashi asked him what his goal in life was."I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan...And to kill a certain man." Right then it seemed as if a light bulb went on in Sasuke's head. His life's goal was not yet complete. He had only done half of what he had said he would do ,what he had sworn he would do. He still had to restore his clan. And there was only one rightful way to do that.

He had to go back to Konoha.

* * *

Sakura arose that morning at 5:30 sharp just like every other morning.And just like any other morning she would go over to her dresser and look at the old photo of team 7. On any normal day she would smile and say to herself "Today I'm going to get stronger. And then I'll bring you back Sasuke-kun." But today was different. Today when she looked at the photograph she did not feel that same determination and drive. Today she felt anxious. But about what she had no idea. It was like one part of her knew that something was going to happen and the other part was trying to figure out just what that something was.She found herself constantly looking over her shoulder to see someone who wasn't there and she had these butterflies that chose now of all times to flutter around inside her stomach. 

She quickly got herself dressed -while still trying to brush away that strange feeling- and ate a healthy breakfast before walking out the door to head for the hospital. She was working there a lot now. It was her masters orders after all. "There is little more I can teach you." Tsunade would say to her pupil whenever she would complain about the lack of training she was receiving "The best way for you to learn is with experience." Of course Sakura could not disagree with her sensei. She was really learning more and more about medical care and techniques everyday. But she still desired to get stronger. She still didn't feel quite good enough. She never felt good enough to save Sasuke. But she could still try right? That was what she lived for.

It was a very slow day at the hospital. There were few patients that needed extensive care. In fact there were hardly any patients at all. Sakura supposed that was a good thing. Not only did that mean that there were very little injuries to attend to but she also got twice as much work done that day. But when the day became late she could find nothing to do. She asked many of the nurses if they needed help with paperwork but they all declined her offer. She even went to Tsunade's office to ask if she could have some one on one training with her master. But of course the Godiame just brushed her off. Now all that there was to do was to sit and with sitting came thinking and with thinking came thoughts and most of those thoughts circled around a certain Uchiha.These thoughts were exactly what she had been trying to avoid.

At the mention of his name in her mind made those ever present butterflies in her stomach flutter even wilder than before. The memories flooded her mind. They were memories of their first days as team seven and of the chunin exams and even the night that Sasuke left them. Left her. She often had dreams of that night, they were more like nightmares really. She would see him walk off into the darkness of Orochimaru's lair. Of course she had heard that Orochimaru was dead but to her he was as alive as ever. Because to her he was still the one who kept Sasuke from her.

It was then that she noticed the tears forming in her eye's. She quickly wiped them away and looked at her watch. It read 5:00. It was time to go get Naruto. Her companion often trained from dawn till dusk and because of this Sakura took it upon herself to make sure he didn't collapse from exhaustion, which would sometimes happen. He was just as, if not twice as determined to bring Sasuke home as she was. So whenever he trained he often pushed himself over the edge.

As she approached the training grounds where Naruto most often trained she saw Hinata. The Hyuga heiress stood awkwardly behind a tree watching Naruto as he would attack his own shadow clones with new techniques he had learned. Sakura knew of Hinata's crush on the blonde boy. Practically everyone in the village knew...except Naruto of course.'I swear he is one of the densest people I know.' Sakura thought to herself.

Hinata turned around as soon as she heard Sakura coming. "H-Hello Sakura-san." she said shyly.

"Hello Hinata. How are you?" Sakura replied with a yawn. "Spying on Naruto again hmmm?" a sweet knowing smile spread on the kunochi's face.

The question seemed to take Hinata off guard because as soon as the words left Sakura's mouth Hinata turned a beet red and started to scramble for an answer. "N-N-No I-I was just m-m-making sure that...'

"Oh no, its okay Hinata1" said Sakura trying to calm her friend down. "I understand that you were just making sure he didn't hurt himself. Thats good. He really needs someone to look out for him."

Her words of reassurance did seem to calm Hinata down. Her cheeks became less red and she looked down at her feet.

"Yes. He's been working v-very hard lately...So that he can help Sasuke-kun." she twiddled her fingers out of nervousness. "He r-really does miss him a lot."

"We both do." Sakura agreed "Thank you for keeping and eye on him for me.Maybe you can be the one to take him home next time."

"Oh no! I could nev-"

"Good night Hinata." Sakura cut her off. A playful smile displayed on her face while she walked off.

She loved Hinata's shyness. It was her friends defining quality.And Naruto's loud spontaneous and cheerful demeanor ,though sometimes annoying, was what made Naruto, Naruto "They are so perfect together." she said to herself "Someday Hinata will find enough courage to tell him.And they will be so happy that everyone will be jealous." While she was muttering these things to herself she felt a small twinge of sadness inside. And she couldn't help but think 'What about me?'

"Well, What about me? Does it really matter?" she was still talking to herself. "I'm sure that one day I'll find someone who will sweep me off my feet and I'll be twice as happy as Naruto and Hinata." Then she had another uncontrollable thought.'But what about Sasuke?' The butterflies fluttered again in her stomach. She still had the strange anxious feeling nagging at her.and she still had no clue why.

"Well what about Sasuke? He made his choice. He left the village...he left me...and Naruto and Kakashi-sensei.He chose is revenge. So what do I care?"

"Hey Sakura?" said a voice "Why are you talking to yourself?" when she looked up she could see Naruto staring at her with a funny look on his face.

"W-W-What are you talking about? I was NOT talking to myself!"

"Were too." he said.

"Were not." she spat right back.

"Were too."

"Were not."

"Were too."

By now she had had enough. She filled her fist full of chakra and pulled it back behind her. "WERE NOT!!" Then she smashed it into her teammates abdomen sending him flying through the air and landing with a loud crash.

"O-Okay then." She could hear a weak voice whisper from a distance. "Please. J-Just don't hurt me again."

Sakura giggled a little before she walked over to Naruto and pulled him up off the ground and dusted him off. "What do you say we go get some ramen?" she asked after he was fully recovered.

* * *

Sasuke steadily walked towards Konoha and now noticed that the front gates were at last coming into view. It was dark now and the moon was full and shining. It gave him plenty of light to see the path in front of him. He was indeed grateful that it was so bright. He had wanted to make this trip a short one because of the injuries he still sustained even though he had gotten some treatment in a nearby village.But he also wanted to get everything over with. 

Nothing disturbed him more than facing the fifth Hokage as a criminal. It would hurt his pride to have to endure a lecture on his wrongdoings of leaving the village and doing Orochimaru's dirty work for him while he was being trained. He was also not looking forward to seeing Naruto. The dobe would be all loud and happy would probably give him a lecture of his own. And then there was Sakura. She would cry and hug him and tell him how much she loved and missed him and that she waited for him all these years.His old friends were always so predictable.

He was at the gate now. It loomed over him beaconing him inside calling for him to come home. He stopped just before he entered. Almost like he was afraid. He had left it so long ago. There was so much history inside of the place. Did he really want to go back? He had to. It was to only way to restore his clan. But there was a definite part of him that did really want to come home.

There were two Jounins stationed at the front of the gate to receive visitors.One of them was half asleep and the other one was attempting to light a cigarette when the Uchiha silently walked up to the table they sat at.

The one lighting the cigarette dropped what he was doing and shook his partner awake.

"Name?" the sleepy one asked.

"Uchiha Sasuke." both of their mouths dropped. "I suppose you should take me to the Hokage now."

* * *

Both Naruto and Sakura sat contently at the ramen bar that evening. On the way there had been plenty of yelling, happy dancing, and remarks about dating that had earned Naruto plenty of bruises. But now he sat quietly, save for the slurping noises he made while eating.Sakura sat perfectly still. She could still not shake the anxious feeling from her mind.She kept telling herself that there was nothing wrong. Today had just been a normal uneventful day just like every other day before that. Yet she still felt the need to look over her shoulder several times during the meal. 

"Hey, Sakura-chan." Naruto said.

"Yes Naruto?" Sakura replied turning to face him.

"Is something bothering you?" he had a genuinely concerned expression.

"Umm no. Why?" she lied.

"Well, you seem kinda nervous. Or maybe anxious? I'm not sure. But our not yourself."

"I"m fine Naruto. But why would you think that?" He was being unusually preceptive this evening.

"I don't know. You just keep sighing a lot and staring at your food without eating it and stuff."

"I really don't know what your talking about Naruto. I'm fine." she took a large bite of her food and chewed contently. "See?"

There was a long pause.

"Your thinking about him again aren't you?" he said quietly.

She thought about her answer a little bit. She knew he was a bit touchy when it came to this subject.

"Of course. You know not a day goes by that I don't."

"I know. You do really love him don't you?" an air of disappointment was in his voice. "Even if he never loved you back?"

"Of course..." Her voice was almost a whisper. "I think that no matter what happens...I'll always love him."

Naruto seemed unfased by her answer. But the disappointment was more and more evident on his face. As much as she hated seeing him like this she knew that right now he couldn't quite understand the feelings she had for their lost teammate. Sakura knew that the love she had for Sasuke would last forever even if he never loved her back, even if she had found happiness with someone else, even if he died right before her eyes, and no matter how many times he would hurt her.. No, Naruto could not understand yet. She herself did not quite understand this bond she had with him.

"I should go." she muttered and then smiled sweetly at her companion. "Thank you for coming with me." Then she got up to leave.

"I'll bring him back you know." Naruto repeated his never ending promise.

"I know you will. But I have to help remember?"

* * *

Sakura really had no idea how exhausted she was until her head hit the pillow. Because as soon as it did she had yet another dream. 

In her dream she was twelve years old and it was dark outside. The full moon was out and the leaves danced as the wind swirled around her. She stood in the road that led out of the village. Then she saw Sasuke slowly treading towards her.He had his backpack on and his headband off. He stared at the ground not meeting her gaze. Her cheeks were stained with tears she noticed. And as he walked right by her he muttered that one phrase.The phrase she saw coming. She had relived this night many times.

"Thank you."

That was it. Really? That was all he had to say? No that couldn't be it. he couldn't just leave like this. She wouldn't let him. She felt anger start to boil inside of her as the tears melted away.

"Thats it? Are those your final words?" it took her a few moment to realize that there was no sound coming out of her mouth. What was going on? Was she mute now? She tried to ignore it and hope that her voice would soon come back to her. "How could you do this to me, and Naruto, and Kakashi-sensei? We are your family you can't just abandon us like this!" Still no voice.

He just kept walking without flinching or saying a word. She kept going, praying that he would be able to hear her.

"After all we did for you! After all we've been through together! The three of us! You and I...I loved you! And Naruto would die to save you and so would I!" He kept walking. "All you care about is your stupid revenge.You never cared about any of us! You never even cared how you got the power to kill your brother in the first place!" He was getting farther and farther away. "And now all you have to say to me is 'Thank you'?! Thats all? What is that supposed to mean? Thank me for what? For being an annoying fan girl who clung to your side and hung on every word you said? Is that what you want to thank me for!?" She had a vain hope that the louder she tried to yell, the sooner of voice would return to her. And if that happened he would turn around and come back.

"Well fine then! Go if you want! See if any of us care! We were all to weak to save you anyways. You stupid, emotionless, traitor! I ha-" She stopped then because as soon as she had said all of those things, she regretted them. She regretted even the thought of saying that she hated him of wishing he had never existed. She would never be able to live with herself if she had ever really uttered those words, even if it was just a dream.

"Please." She said still without a sound coming from her mouth, "Please say that you'll stay."

Almost as if he had really heard her, Sasuke stopped and turned around to look at her with his cold onyx eyes.

Then she woke up.

* * *

It had been a very long night for Sasuke. Once the two at the gate had managed to get two ANBU escorts to take him to the Hokage's tower he had waited for an hour and twenty minutes for the Godiame to actually arrive. She was furious that someone would summon her to her office after hours. It was clear that she really had no clue why she had to come to her office in the first place but once the two escorts informed her about the new visitor and once she had seen the Uchiha's face she became serious and understood immediately what is was she had to do. 

"Why have you come back?" was the Hokage's first of many questions to be asked that night.

"I have completed my goal." was Sasuke's simple reply.

"I never thought you would come back after you had accomplished everything."

"I have my reasons."

"So its true that Uchiha, Itachi is dead?"

"Yes."

"And it is true that Orochimaru is also dead?"

"Yes."

"Different sources tell me that you were traveling with a group of three other shinobi."

"That is correct."

"Were they working for the sound?"

"Yes."

"Where are they now?"

"I don't know."

"You do realize that you have become an S ranked criminal and a traitor in the eye's of most of the villages citizens."

"I know."

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples "I do not have the time or the patience to interrogate you now so I will leave you with one of our top shinobi to do it for me."

'Lazy bum'. He thought.

"After that is through I will deliberate with the village elders on what is to be your punishment." It was silent or a moment while she seemed to be deep in thought. "And I suppose that tomorrow you should see your old team."

Sasuke sat very still as his body tensed all over. "Do I have to do it right away?"

"Yes. It is very important. Both Naruto and Sakura will be very pleased -well actually that would be an understatement-they would be ecstatic to be able to finally see you again. I will be sure that they are here tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime you will stay in a small apartment guarded by ANBU for tonight." With that he was dismissed.

* * *

Sakura awoke from her dream with a jolt. She sat upright in bed a cold sweat evident on her forehead. Her breathing was a tad bit heavy and her heart was beating faster than normal. She wiped her forehead with the sleeve of her pajama shirt and then tried to breathe easy. She looked out her window and saw that the sun was just starting to peak over the horizon. Though it was early she decided that since she was already awake, now was a good time as ever to start getting ready for her day. 

While she got out of bed and walked over to her dresser to brush her hair the thoughts that floated about her mind turned to her dream and of course to Sasuke. It was then that she noticed that the strange anxious feeling had come back, or rather it had never left. Today it felt stronger, The butterflies flitted about in her stomach while she slowly ate her breakfast 'Okay so either I'm getting really sick or there is something going on.' she thought to herself 'Or maybe I' just crazy.'

A squad of ANBU had just come into the hospital from a dangerous mission so there was much to do when Sakura arrived.She rushed around the emergency room zipping from one patient to another healing their bleeding wounds and making sure they stayed conscious. But while she worked up a sweat tending to each of her patients, every now and then she would fool herself into thinking that it was Sasuke who was badly injured so she would work twice as hard to save him. But she had to face the facts, Sasuke wasn't here and he wouldn't be here until Naruto and herself dragged him back to the village. Maybe she still loved him after all.

It was about 4:00 and everything in the ER was under control. She finally had time to relax and have a little break before she got back to work. She was just about to sit down in one of the waiting room chairs when a loud voice was heard throughout the hospital; a very familiar moderately annoying voice to be exact. Naruto burst into the room yelling for Sakura to come with him.

"Naruto what the heck do you want?" she was agitated. She had always hated it when Naruto came in while she was working. "Can't you see that I'm busy?"

"S-Sakura-chan I know but its Tsunade-baa-chan!" he was out of breath. "She says that Sasuke's back!"

Those simple words were all it took to practically paralyze Sakura. She froze and stopped breathing. It even felt as if her heart had stopped beating. 'Is he really back?' she thought 'What would motivate him to do such a thing? Should I even believe what Naruto is saying? Is all this just a joke?'

"Sakura-chan! C'mon we have to go! Don't you wanna see him at all?"

'No. He would never lie to me about something like this' she resumed breathing and concentrated on moving her foot so she could walk out the door."Move your foot Sakura!' she screamed at herself 'He's home! He's finally home and you can't even move!' The took a step or two towards the exit 'This is Sasuke-kun were talking about! You have to see him!' Now she was running. As she passed Naruto she grabbed his arm and he was right behind her. Together they ran as fast as their legs would take them to the Hokage's tower.

* * *

Sasuke sat quietly in the Hokage's office waiting for his two former teammates to arrive. Tsunade had once again made him wait hours for her arrival and when he coldly asked for the reason she simply stated that she had important things to do (after saying this her assistant rolled her eyes). 

The Godiame sat with her elbows resting on her desk and her hands neatly folded front of her face. She stared silently at the door anticipating loud yelling noises to make themselves known at any moment. Sasuke grew impatient as he stood up from his chair and gave a low grunt. Then they both heard loud footsteps. Someone was running up the stairs and obviously making a spectacle about it. People were yelling profanities as they were shoved out of the way by one or maybe two people. Then there was a crash and more yelling.

"Oh hey sorry lady!." said a familiar voice "I'll pay for it I swear I just got some place to be!"

"Naruto hurry up! You can worry about that later!"

"Hai Sakura-chan!"

Less than a second later Naruto bust into the room. He was clearly out of breath, his eye's swept the room and once they found the pale man standing near the desk they froze. It seemed that for an eternity all that Sasuke and Naruto did was stare at each other. One of them with an extremely stoic demeanor and the other completely still and gaping as if he was watching a ghost from a long time ago. Of course in a way he was but this ghost was real and at last back where it belonged.

Sakura stumbled in shortly after bumping into Naruto which seemed to wake him from his frozen state.As soon as she saw Sasuke's pale figure she too froze in place and Naruto ran up to him and giving him a hug that Sasuke really could have lived without. After that he just tuned out all of Naruto's loud rambling and focused on Sakura's reaction. It was strange to him since she didn't run up to him screaming his name and proclaiming her love for him over and over like he would have expected her to. Instead she stood there staring at him and he had no clue what to do.

"Sakura.," he said blandly "Your quiet." he felt quite awkward saying this. He just was uncomfortable with the way she looked at him without saying anything. It was the only thing he could think of at the moment.

Naruto suddenly stopped talking. He looked perplexed at the Fact that Sasuke actually acknowledged Sakura without her flinging herself all over him. Sakura seemed to struggle to find words in response because there was a long pause.

"W-Well Sasuke-kun, I'm just so shocked that-that you're actually here! I'm just so happy you're back!" now the tears were appeared in her eye's and she looked like she was fighting herself to not hug him like she would have years ago.

More awkward silence ensued and then the Hokage finally spoke.

"All right then now that you have had your reunion I suggest that you all go out and have yourself a nice dinner before returning home."

That sentence was followed by stares in disbelief.

"You may go to Ichiraku's and eat your dinner but rest assured you will be supervised." more silence "My treat."

"YEAH!!!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs "This is gonna be great guy's! Oh I wonder what kind of Ramen I should get." He got a funny yet seriously thoughtful look on his face while he was naming off the many different kinds of ramen. Sasuke just stared at him in utter annoyance and Sakura stood there silent wiping the last traces of tears form her eye's. "Ah well I guess I'll just have to decide when I get there!" He waved goodbye to Tsunade before marching off to the ramen bar with his companions right behind him.

* * *

Naruto's constant babbling was the only thing that kept their walk to Ichiraku's a silent one. Both Sakura and Sasuke said not a single word the entire way. They walked side by side while Naruto took the lead not really paying attention to them at all -he was still trying to decide what kind of ramen to get. 

The walk seemed very nostalgic to Sakura. And though it was very nice to have her teammate back it was also very painful. It was painful because she was holding herself; her emotions back. She desperately wanted to reach out and touch him, to hug him, and tell him everything she had felt in the time he was gone. She wanted to be angry,and sad, and joyous, and everything in between but she knew she couldn't. That would make her annoying as Sasuke himself had often stated to her. So she kept her distance and held it in.

At dinner Naruto continued his nonstop chattering he asked Sasuke all kinds of questions: some of them stupid and some of them downright bizzare, though it was very hard to get more than just once word answers out of Sasuke.Sakura commented and nodded in agreement when needed, but she was not all there. She was disconnected in her attempt to restrain her emotions.

After they were all done with their food -or rather after Naruto proclaimed he was full after his tenth bowl- They all got up and prepared to leave.

"Oooohhhh I don't think I'm gonna be able to eat for a year!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Of course you will dobe." Stated Sasuke bluntly.

"No one asked you Teme!"

"Okay okay you two." Sakura reasons. "We don't need to be starting fights tonight okay?"

"Yeah I guess you're right Sakura-chan. I should just save my breath for tomorrow." he sighed "Well then I guess I should leave. Thanks for coming back Sasuke" his face was serious "I-I can't even say how happy I am now that my brothers back." he smiled a bit and then turned around and left.

"We are both...extremely happy that you are back Sasuke-ku...Sasuke."

"Hn." was all Sasuke said.

"What?' Sakura asked.

"He didn't ask to take you home like he usually would."

"He knows I'll hurt him if he tries."

Both of them just stood there. Could any of them go on without all of these awkward silences?

"My apartment is this way." Sasuke said pointing in the direction opposite of where Sakura was facing.

"Okay then." She said simply. "I guess I"ll see you tomorrow."

"Hai." then he started to walk off but stopped short when he was right next to Sakura facing opposite of her. "Meet me at that old bench by the road out of the village at one tonight." and then he was gone.

* * *

Sakura Ran all the way home after dinner. A million thoughts and ideas and expectations floating around in her head. 

_Meet me at the old bench by the road out of the village at one tonight _. His words echoed again and again in her mind.

"Why? What does this mean?" she whispered softly to herself. "What could he possibly want at one in the morning at that old bench? And how was he going to get away from the ANBU that she knew were watching him? Okay well that was a stupid question" she admitted. "I mean he is probably way past their level anyways. What with all the training he's gotten from Orochimaru."

The anxious feeling never ceased to exist all night. And now that the one person she truly loved had asked to meet her in secret in the middle of the night those same butterflies fluttered so wildly in her stomach it seemed as if it would burst. She tapped her fingers on her desk in her room as she waited for the hands on the clock to turn the exact time she was to meet him. The funny thing was the clock hands never moved fast enough.

At last the face of the clock read 12:55 she immediately ran from her room to the bench where he had left her on the night he went to be with Orochimaru.

The moon was full and bright in the cloudless sky so it provided plenty of light for her to see as she wandered around the familiar area. The breeze carried all of the fallen leaves around in the air making them dance. But despite the beauty of the night Sakura could not simply pay attention to these things. All she wanted was to know why Sasuke had asked for her to come here.

Then she heard soft footsteps behind her and soon Sasuke came into view.

"You came." he said to her.

"You asked me too." she replied. And then she notices a dark purplish color on the right hand side of Sasuke's forehead. "W-What happened to you?"

"...Naruto...", he sighed "He came and found me after he thought you went home and..decided to give me one of the longest and loudest lectures I have ever had to endure...and I guess he decided that that wasn't enough so..."

"Ah."

"Hn"

"So...What did you want?"

* * *

Suddenly to Sasuke everything in the world seemed easy except for this. Beating Naruto? Fine. "Killing Itachi? No problem. Sneaking out and away from his ANBU stalkers? Great. But telling Sakura exactly what it was he wanted to talk to her about, now that was a different story.

"Sakura I...I want to...apologize..." it was as if he was literally killing his pride by saying this. He knew that she at least deserved an apology and Naruto as well, but this for him too was difficult. "I'm sorry...for the pain I have caused you and everyone else...I am truly sorry."

Shock was the only word able to describe Sakura's face as he said this. "Sasuke...I."

"I never meant for you and Naruto to get involved with my affairs...my problems. But I guess that I should have known you would try to bring me back." he took a deep breath and then stepped closer to her. His face was down cast so he couldn't see her face. He didn't want to see her face. He was scared that if he did he would never be able to get through this. "You should know that I did it. I killed by brother and at last avenged my clan. He's dead Sakura. I was strong enough..everything paid off." he noticed that her breathing was uneven but he ignored it and continued. "And now I have more to do. I have to restore my clan to its former glory"

He raised his hand and reached across the very short distance between them to touch her arm. He soon wrapped his hand around her soft skin and could feel her nervous trembling . It was an unconscious gesture one that he hardly realized he was doing. He just didn't want her to feel afraid or nervous in any way. He felt her shiver slightly by his touch. Was his skin that cold? He couldn't worry about that right now because now came the extremely hard part. His eye's were cast down still and he stood very still his hand still holding her arm.

"There is only one proper way to do that." he continued "I have to do this in Konoha.Its what my family would have wanted."

"And...?" her voice quivered.

He took a deep breath.

"Sakura, will you marry me?"

His voice was very serious yet there was a hint of pleading in it. To him those words were not just things you say to a girl before you giver her a ring and promise to wake up in bed next to her every day. The men that did that for the most part already knew what the girl would say to them. To him this was a real question. He had no idea what her response would be. The only thing he knew was what he wanted the answer to be. And after her reaction to his return, after the stiffness she showed while walking and being next to him all evening he began to wonder if she still had the same feelings for him as before.

He heard her stop breathing for a moment but he dared not look up at her face. Small wet drops fell on his arm and he heard very soft sobbing noises coming from the pink haired kunochi.

"Sasuke-kun," her voice was shaking even harder "Why?"

"I wanted someone I could trust." he started "A good friend who was...kind and loving and strong. Someone who wold be very caring towards children in the future. A noble person who would do anything for someone she loved and would be very loyal. And I...I chose you." he voice was just short of a whisper.

Though in his mind he knew the reason he asked her this was because she was perfect for restoring his clan. In his mind that was all that mattered. But in his heart he wanted this. That was another reason why. He wanted this more than anything right now. He wanted to become happy. He wanted to be so happy that even his dead brother would envy him. And he wanted it with her. But he had no clue why that was.

Sakura sniffed and wiped away some of her tears. The she made sure to look him straight in the eye.

"Sasuke...I love you so much! Of course I'll marry you." she suppressed a sob "So now I can really help you with your goal. And I'll make sure that you will be happy as long as I live.I would do anything for you Sasuke."

Sasuke, for some reason, did not know what it was, but it was in that moment where everything turned from him continuing his life's purpose to something totally new and different. It was right there when she said yes to his proposal saying she loved him and that she would do anything and everything for him even after all he had put her through she still loved him. Right then he realized: he loved her too.

It was like while he was training and while he was looking for his brother all of his emotions and feeling had been put on hold. There was nothing in the world but him and his hate and lust for Itachi's blood. But now he remembered everything. He remembered how he felt in the forest of death during the chunnin exams, how she stopped him from slaughtering those sound nin. He remembered when she risked her life to protect him from Gaara. He even remembered exactly how he felt that night he left with her screaming for him to stay and begging to take her with him.All of this just because she loved him. And he brushed her aside every time.But after all of that, even if he never acknowledged it, there was always a deep part of him that loved her back.

After a few moments when it all sunk in this feeling of unbelievable happiness grew inside of him.At last he felt at peace. There was no more emptiness or hate there to fill the void that had never really been filled. Now there was hope. He had a future that would be filled with joy instead of loneliness he had someone's love right there in front of him and it felt almost touchable as Sakura stood there crying with tears of joy he hoped. He had asked the woman of his dreams to spend the rest of his life with him and she accepted. Right then and there was nothing in the world that could make him happier.

He stood there still with his hand on her trembling arm. He looked into her beautiful sea foam green eye's and moved his hand up to her shoulder and then to the back of her neck. Then he slowly moved to make his nose lightly touch her forehead and then his lips found their way to hers and softly kissed her for a moment that seemed too short.

She looked shocked. Her tears started flowing down her wide eye's. But then she smiled that beautiful smile of hers and placed her hands on his shoulders and kissed him deeper.Once they broke away Sakura was still smiling and Sasuke had his own smirk on his face.

"I should go." he said

"Don't." she pleaded.

* * *

"I have too." Sasuke said still looking onto her eye's. "If I don't then the ANBU will tell the Hokage and come looking for me. and if that happens who knows how bad my punishment will become." 

Sakura sighed "Fine." She was the one who finally looked away as much as she hated to. "Will I see you tomorrow?"

"Maybe." A simple response. After that he took her hand, squeezed it and then walked away.

When he had taken her hand he had left something in it. She looked to see what it was and found that it was a ring. A silver ring with one square cut diamond in the middle and two smaller diamonds on either side. It was absolutely beautiful. But there was not only a ring in her hand it looked like Sasuke had also left a note for her.

_This was my mothers_. It read. _I hope you like it_.

Sakura looked up and around for Sasuke but he was no where to be seen.

Happiness very quickly swept over her while she put the ring on her left ring finger. It fit perfectly. 'I can't even believe this.' she thought 'I'm going to marry Uchiha Sasuke.'

Sasuke had never said anything to her about love or happiness. He never once said anything about having feelings for her. But though he never said anything with his mouth his eye's and his smile and his kiss said it all. Those words were siad in his own special way. It was the most beautiful moment anyone could imagine and nothing or no one could ever take that away from them.

* * *

**Well thats it! Took me long enough to write. I hope you enjoyed it I worked very hard and I am extremely proud of my work. Review if you like I'm just glad you decided to read it! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!  
**


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